


The Sorcerer

by notcool



Series: Show Me Your Darkness (Sanders Sides Fantasy AU) [3]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Needs a Hug, Because Remus, First Meetings, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Magic, Mild Gore, Panic Attacks, Remus being Remus, Sibling Love, Vampire Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Vampire Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, but they do love each other, pre-prinxiety - Freeform, ro and ree are havin a blast, sorcerer Virgil, they bicker all the time, virgil is just panicking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:33:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27217243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcool/pseuds/notcool
Summary: Roman and Remus have been content to annoy each other eternally in the comfort of their abandoned castle, the years passing without anything too exciting.Then one day a tower appears on the edge of their territory, seemingly out of nowhere, and well... how are the brothers supposed to resist a good old-fashioned adventure?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Series: Show Me Your Darkness (Sanders Sides Fantasy AU) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980931
Comments: 9
Kudos: 87





	1. The Tower

**Author's Note:**

> i literally have no idea what im doing but ive been doing it for two hours now so here take it

_ Our castle would crumble before us but that doesn't mean it can’t be rebuilt, rebuilt for real, this time without the errors and a little more caution. _

_ \- Chirag Tulsiani _

To say the twins’ relationship was complicated would be an understatement.

It had been getting better, though - which was to say it had been nearly three years since Remus had last decapitated his brother, and Roman rather liked his head to stay where it was meant to, thank you very much.

So when Remus burst into the throne room, covered in blood with a red-stained short sword in one hand, what appeared to be a dismembered arm in the other (there was a lot of blood, it was hard to tell), and a javelin sticking all the way through his left shoulder, Roman braced himself for the typical Remus insanity that was sure to ensue.

“Ro! You won’t believe what I did today!”

Roman made a face as the bloody limb (definitely an arm now that it was closer) was tossed at his feet, not unlike a cat offering a half-dead mouse to its owner. “Let me guess; you minded your own business and let the border villages live in comfortable peace?”

“You know me so well brother!” Remus cackled, tossing down his sword as well so he could use both hands to tug at the javelin. “Hey, you think you could lop the other end off this thing? It’s starting to get annoying.”

Roman rolled his eyes and drew his own sword, circling Remus to chop off the javelin at his brother’s back with one clean swipe. “I hope you don’t think I’m eating that.” He said, nodding to the arm on the floor.

“Oh, come on Ro!” Remus yanked the remnants of the weapon from his flesh and threw it to the side. “The guy’s already dead! It’s not like you’re tarnishing your pretty little non-existent reputation!”

“I don’t drink from humans, Ree.” Roman nudged the arm back towards Remus with his boot. “You know this.”

Remus shook his head, but picked up the arm and slung it over his shoulder with a huff. “You’re gonna make yourself sick doin’ this, Ro. Keep it up and soon enough you won’t be able to fend off even a dozen pesky humans!”

“Ree…” Roman said, tapping his foot testingly. 

“Just sayin’!” Remus turned and sauntered back towards the doors. “Really, you should start comin’ out with me again! Today was great! Met this nice lady too. Real sassy.”

“Yeah, sounds delightful.” Roman waved to shoo his brother away faster. “You get that thing outta here. I’m already gonna have to clean blood off the floor.”

Remus flashed a grin and was gone down the main hall of the castle, his off-key whistling fading away after just a few seconds.

Roman ran his eyes over the red trail left in his wake and sighed. At the very least Remus had stayed off of the carpet.

He should probably try and get it up now, while it was still wet, but Roman just wasn’t in the mood. He could make Remus clean it up later - it was his blood trail, after all.

With a final deep, disappointed sigh, Roman left the throne room, resolving to curl up in the library and reread a random something for the hundredth time. Probably more than a hundred, though, if he was being honest.

The castle was vacant save for the twins, so with Remus off doing who knows what, Roman could easily sit in calm quiet and read without interruption. Well… that was the idea, at least.

He’d made it through three books, and was halfway through a fourth when the echo of the throne doors flying open announced Remus’s early return.

“Roman!” In less than a second Remus blurred into focus in the door to the library, a grin more maniacal than usual on his (still bloody) face. “You gotta come see this!”

Roman frowned, setting down his book and standing. “See what?” He asked suspiciously.

“There’s a tower on the other side of Cermian Creek!”

Said creek was positioned at the edge of the far end of the forest, technically off their territory but still close enough to remain uninhabited. 

“There’s… what?”

“A tower!” Remus was rocking on the balls of his feet, hands refusing to stay still. “Just, there! Poof! Sixty feet of rock just there out of the blue!”

Roman just looked at him. “A tower. Just appeared.”

“Yeah! You gotta see it! All twisty and spooky! We should go see what’s inside!”

Naturally, Roman assumed this was one of Remus’s ridiculous pranks, but even if it was, Roman was kind of interested to see how his brother had pulled off faking a sixty foot tower.

“Sure,” he said, after only a moment of thought. “Why not. Let’s go explore.”

“Hells yeah!” Remus grabbed his wrist, and with only a lopsided grin as warning, they were off.

Roman could barely keep his feet under him as the world turned to streaks around them with the speed. “Remus!” He called, though he knew Remus couldn’t hear him. “I know how to walk, Ree! You can let go n-”

Roman somehow managed not to faceplant into the water when Remus skidded to a stop, finally letting go of his wrist. Which was good, as Roman was  _ really _ not in the mood to wash his clothes today.

“There!” Remus was pointing, once more bouncing in excitement. “Told ya Ro!”

Roman shook himself and looked up and- oh, woah. That was, indeed, a large stone tower.

“Damn,” he breathed, taking in the way vines and moss crawled up the stones as though the tower had been here for decades. “And… you haven’t gone in yet?”

“Nope!” Remus chirped. “Thought I’d let you go first! Ya know, in case there’s any traps!”

“I- I don’t know what I expected.” Roman shot his brother a glare before jumping the creek in a light bound. “So courteous of you, Remus, to so lovingly send your brother into unknown dangers.”

“What? I already got impaled today!” Remus jumped the creek as well and started walking towards the tower as soon as his boots were back on the ground. “It’s your turn for mortal injuries!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Roman jogged to catch up, the brothers stopping at the large wooden door that appeared to be the only entrance to the tower. “But if I in any way shape or form get decapitated, I’m blaming you.”

“So cruel brother!” Remus threw a hand over his chest in mock-despair. “So out of character! Have you lost your head?”

Roman grasped the rusted handle. “Remind me to slap you when we get home.”

“Will do! Just open the damned door already - the anticipation is killing me!”

“Your attitude is killing me.” Roman muttered, but he gave the door a tug.

Human strength proved the door to be locked, so Roman tugged again, actually hard this time. The door came completely off its hinges, groaning as it hung from Roman’s hand.

The brothers locked eyes.

“Oops?” Roman offered, awkwardly dropping the door to the side.

Remus looked unimpressed with him, but upon looking inside his eyes lit up with a vaguely disturbing hunger for adventure. “Damn! Creepy spiral staircase and all! This is gonna be fun!”

“If it’s so fun why don’t you go first then,” Roman suggested. “I wouldn’t want to ruin the experience.”

“Ha ha, nice try Ro.” Remus shoved him playfully towards the shadowed doorway. “You’re still going first though.”

Grumbling, Roman entered the dark hall. Of course, he could see perfectly fine in the dark, so that wasn’t a problem, but the greyscale that came with the thick shadows really did add to the creep factor.

“Well, nothin’s shot ya yet, so I think I’m good to come in!” Remus skipped into the tower and came right up behind Roman, poking his brother in the back. “Come on, Ro! Creepy staircases mean creepy secrets at the top!”

“Give me a minute, I’m checking for traps.” Roman narrowed his eyes and scanned the walls and stairs within view, but the place seemed void of any hostile contraptions. “Okay, okay, I’m going!” He slapped at Remus, who had started poking him again, and started up the stairs.

They could have been to the top in a blink if they wanted, but Roman didn’t want to miss any traps… and, though he would never admit it to Remus, he really did like the thrill of slowly crawling into the mouth of danger.

The tower was only so tall, though, and eventually the brothers found themselves faced with another wooden door.

They stood there for a good three minutes before Remus nudged his twin’s shoulder. “You gonna open it?”

Roman shoved him back. “You open it. You’re the one who wanted to come in here!”

“I’m not opening it!” Remus stepped away, crossing his arms and shaking his head vigorously. “What if it’s cursed?”

“Well  _ I _ don’t want to get cursed!” Roman objected.

“I already got impaled today, I don’t need to get cursed too!”

“You already used that excuse!”

There was suddenly a flash of violet light under the door, gone so fast that Roman wasn’t sure he’d actually seen it until he looked to see his brother looking just as startled and confused.

“Yep.” Remus shuffled behind Roman. “It’s definitely cursed. You open it.”

“I don’t-” Roman tossed up his hands in defeat, stepping towards the door with a dramatic eye roll. “Just a reminder though - if I get decapitated I am  _ so _ blaming you.”

Remus nodded, shuffling back a little more as Roman reached for the handle.

Roman braced himself and grasped the metal, only to blink down at it confused.

“What?” Remus stage-whispered. “Did your bones turn into lead? Did your tongue turn into a bunch of tiny snakes?”

“No.” Roman said, voice a bit high with surprise. “It… it just tickles.”

“...Tickles?” Remus frowned and stepped back to his brother’s side, leaning to look. “That’s it? No worms in your lungs? No hot coals poked in bleeding pockets of muscle around your heart?”

“Neither of us even have a heart, Ree.” Roman reminded. “And no… it just tickles. Like… like holding a caterpillar, and its feet just barely poke at your skin as it crawls.”

“Huh.” Remus looked vaguely disappointed. “Well, if it’s not killing you, open the door already! I wanna see what made that purple explosion!”

Roman nodded and pushed at the door. It was locked and only rattled a bit. Roman gripped the handle tighter, giving the door a shove with the inhuman side of his strength, hoping he didn’t completely break this door at least…

And the door didn’t break. It didn’t open, either. The wood groaned some at the force, but remain resolutely in place.

Roman just stared at it.

Remus poked his side. “You gonna open it or not?”

Roman gave another shove, receiving the same result. “I… I can’t.”

“What’d’ya mean you can’t?” Remus made a face. “It’s a wooden door. And an old one too!”

“I don’t know…” Now annoyed, Roman pressed his shoulder against the wood and shoved even harder.

The door groaned louder, bowing slightly, but still didn’t move.

He gave Remus a helpless glance, gesturing at the door with his free hand. 

“Together.” Remus decided, going around him and placing his palms on the wood. “Hey! It does kinda feel like a caterpillar!”

“Yeah, it does.” Roman repositioned his feet to insure he wouldn’t fall when they finally made it through. “On three?”

“Nah,” Remus grinned. “Now!”

The door made a horrible sound of distress beneath the pressure of both vampires. There was a sharp  _ CRACK! _ and the door split clean in two, revealing what appeared to be some kind of… lab?

Roman steadied himself and brushed splinters off his tunic with a frown. “The hell is this? Alchemy?”

Remus leaned both ways, peering into the room. “Well, somebody’s home - that candle hasn’t been burning long. Wonder where they’re hiding.” He sniffed, then stuck out his tongue in that weird way that he insisted helped him smell better. “Well, whoever they are, they’re human. Not something to worry too much about. Why don’t you go in?”

“Me?” Roman chuffed. “Why me? I touched the door first!”

“I was impaled today!”

“You can’t keep pulling that car-” There was a flash of movement in the corner of Roman’s eye - from inside the room.

He turned to face it, and was met with a sharp sting in his gut before someone was pushing past him into the hall as fast they humanly could.

They didn’t even make it to the first step. Remus snatched the back of their cloak and yanked them off their feet, shoving them face-first into the wall, their feet several inches off the ground.

Roman dazedly took note of the leather-wrapped knife-hilt sticking out of his abdomen. “Hey Remus!” He called. “I got impaled too!”

Remus turned his head too look, shoving his charge harder against the wall when they squirmed. “That’s a knife, Ro. Knives don’t count.”

“And why not?” Roman yanked the weapon out with a huff.

“It didn’t even go all the way through you!” Remus explained. “You got stabbed, not impaled. It’s different.”

“Well now you’re just being unreasonable.”

The cloaked human kicked weakly, reminding the brothers they existed.

Roman tossed the knife back into the room and stepped forward to tug down the human’s hood.

It was a thin, pale man with unkempt sable hair and a slight aura of earthly magic that had Roman pursing his lips. The man, being human, was blind in the darkness outside the small laboratory, eyes wide and glassy with fear as they flicked around, desperate to see what was happening.

“Reconsidering, brother?” Remus trilled. 

Roman spared him a quick glance. “What?”

“You’re little purity pledge to not drink from humans?”

Roman made a face and stood on his toes to get a closer look at the haze of magic fluttering over the human’s skin. “No, Ree. I’m not.”

Remus shrugged. “Eh, more for me!”

The human’s already frantic breathing spiked, and Roman dropped back to his heels, slapping his brother’s arm.

“You’re not eating him either.”

Remus pouted. “Why not?”

“Look at his face!”

“Huh?” Remus pulled the human down a bit, their toes brushing the floor so Remus could see over their shoulder. He pinched his brows and straightened. “What? I don’t know what you want me to see, Ro. I mean he’s handsome, but that’s hardly a reason to-”

“Not that!” Roman slapped him again. “The magic, Ree! He’s a human radiating innate magic! It’s kind of faint, yes, but that’s still not something you see every day.”

Remus leaned around the human again. “Hey, you’re right! That’s weird.” He adjusted his grip on their cloak, flipping them so their back was to the wall and keeping them there with a hand on their chest. “Hey, human! What’s with the earth magic, huh?”

The human’s hands snapped up to Remus’s wrist, but the grip was weak, and they hung there pleadingly more than actually doing anything. They were gasping for air, definitely crying now.

“Well that’s weird too.” Remus shifted his hand to the left side of their chest and tilted his head. “I don’t remember hearts beating that fast. Check his pulse or something Ro. Are they supposed to go that fast?”

Roman reached up and untangled one of the human’s hands from Remus, pushing up the sleeve and resting his thumb along the inside of their wrist.

“I don’t know.” He admitted after a few seconds. “It’s been awhile since we had hearts.”

“Maybe they’re supposed to do that.” Remus shook the man a bit. “Are you gonna say anything? You still haven’t told me why you’re all glittery with earth magic!”

The human responded with a strangled whining sound, pulling his hand from Roman to paw weakly at Remus’s arm.

“Oh!” Roman started, suddenly feeling very stupid. “Humans need to breathe, Ree. I think that’s why he can’t answer.”

Remus blinked. “Oh. Yeah they do, don’t they?” He lowered the human to the ground, loosening his grip a little but still keeping them trapped against the wall. “Sorry, I forget that sometimes.”

The human was shaking terribly, unseeing eyes seemingly fighting to stay open. The choking and gasping did not settle.

“Uh… You good?” Remus poked the human’s forehead, causing him to flinch back with a hoarse cry.

The brothers exchanged looks. Roman could only shrug.

“Alrighty,” Remus said. “Maybe if I just…”

Remus released his hold on the human entirely, but instead of shrinking away or trying to run like Roman would have expected, the man crumpled straight to the floor.

Their breaths were still choppy and wheezing, but their eyes were closed now, body forgoing the shaking in favor of going completely limp save for the occasional twitch.

“Oh,” Remus said. “I didn’t kill him, did I? I don’t think I killed him.”

Roman knelt, taking note of how the human’s face was twisted in fear even in sleep. “No, he’s alive. Just unconscious for some reason. He didn’t hit his head when you put up on the wall, did he?” He sniffed. “I mean, I don’t smell blood.”

“Don’t think so.” Remus dropped to a crouch and poked the human’s knee experimentally. “Well, if we’re not eating him, what the hell are we doing with him?”

Roman bit his lip, asking himself the very same question. “It’ll be morning soon. Let’s take him back to the castle with us. We can poke around his lab tomorrow.”

Remus made a gagging sound. “You wanna bring a live human into the castle? Geez, you gone crazy or something?”

“No!” Roman defended. “But he’s the only person in this mysterious tower so he probably knows why the hell it magically appeared - maybe he even did it himself!”

Remus made another gagging sound, pulling a face dramatic enough to partner with it. “You do what you want, Ro. But when he wakes up he’s your problem.”

“Hey! You’re the one that knocked him out!”

“Nu-uh!” Remus jumped to his feet, hands in his coat pockets. “We don’t know what knocked him out. It could have been anything!”

“But you-”

“You want him alive, you deal with him alive!” Remus spun on heel and started back down the stairs of the tower. “And I’m not carrying him either!”

“Remus-”

“Meet ya back at the castle!” Remus gave a little wave over his shoulder and in the next breath was a blurry afterimage, probably already a third of the way home.

Roman growled. “Bastard.” He muttered, looking down at the unconscious human. Was this a good idea? No. Was Roman known for making good life decisions? Also no.

Roman pulled the human away from the wall and rolled him onto his back. The man made a small whine at the movement, making Roman feel something akin to sympathetic, which he did not like. He hurriedly tucked their cloak around them and scooped them into his arms.

The guy was pretty light. Roman could probably have carried him even back when he was a human himself. Some long-disregarded part of his mind informed him that this was most likely not a good sign.

Well, he could figure that out later. The sun would be rising soon and Roman wasn’t in the mood for his skin to burn like hell the whole way back.

Double-checking that the human was secure against his chest, Roman took one normal step forward, and then started to run.


	2. The Intruders

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Actually thinking things through before writing them down? Whaaaaat???

True, Virgil did tend to overreact in some situations, but in his humble opinion, the outright panic he was feeling right then was completely justified. 

He’d managed to break the crystal.  _ The _ crystal! It’s not like there was just a replacement lying around!

Oh well, one might try and reason, it’s at least capable of being replaced, everything will turn out alright - but no, no it wasn’t. 

That crystal was the power source for the barrier that separated Virgil’s home from common reality, and without it he was…

Well, he had no idea where, which was part of the problem. 

It was dark outside, but there was just enough starlight for Virgil to make out the surrounding forest as he leaned out the window. There didn’t seem to be any buildings in sight, but it was truly too dark to tell for sure, and if dawn brought a hoard of questioning villagers to his door Virgil honestly had no clue what he would do. 

It turned out there were no pitchfork-wielding villagers, but somehow what actually happened was worse. There was little more than an hour until sunrise, and Virgil’s anxiety was climbing with every passing minute. 

He was desperately shifting through his many vials of half-brewed potions and obscure ingredients, hoping to come across anything he could use to restore even a little power to the shattered crystal. 

He had swept the shards up and dumped them into a large glass jar, screwing on the lid with probably more force than was necessary, scared of making things worse by losing any pieces of it. 

It was then that there was a sudden tug at his chest, followed almost immediately by a sharp crack of wood echoing up from the bottom of the silent tower. 

Virgil froze. 

His connection to the tower was weakened without the crystal to act as a liaison, but there was no mistaking the cry of distress from the tower's magical warning system - someone had opened the door. 

Virgil frantically pushed aside the vials he had been reading and pressed both palms to the table, closing his eyes and willing the tower to aid him in extending his view. 

Two people. Heavy boots. They were arguing, but they weren’t angry. They were… cold. One was leaving a slight smear of blood with each step. 

The tower didn’t have much else to give him, but it was enough for Virgil to easily assume these intruders weren’t human. 

“Oh gods oh gods oh gods…”

He found himself pacing. 

The intruders were going slowly enough, but they would still reach the top in a minimum of ten minutes. Virgil wrapped his arms around his middle and leaned back against the wall, trying to force himself to breathe properly. 

“You gonna open it?” 

Oh gods, they were right outside the door. The lock on this door was barely half the strength of the one at the base of the tower, and that door had been pushed past with no effort at all. 

“You open it!” A second voice complained. “You’re the one who wanted to come in here!”

Virgil could feel his chest seizing up, and he threw a hand over his mouth to muffle the choking sound he couldn’t hold back. 

“I’m not opening it! What if it’s cursed?”

“Well  _ I  _ don’t want to get cursed!”

Cursed…

Well, the door wasn’t cursed as of now, but Virgil could come up with something, couldn’t he?

He didn’t have much time before one of them inevitably tried to enter, and with the crystal no longer there to backup his own magic, there was only so much he  _ could _ do, but…

Virgil swallowed thickly, and turned to face the wall beside the door, planting his palms on the stones and closing his eyes.

_ Help me. _ He begged the tower, hoping against hope the old building was still able to hear him.  _ Help me! _

There was a bright flash of violet light, momentarily blinding Virgil as he stumbled back and fell from the shock.

There was an unpleasant tingling at the tips of his fingers, slowly working its way down into his hands. He distantly took note that the voices in the hall had gone abruptly quiet.

Virgil blinked. The tingling was at his wrists and beginning to crawl up his arms. He felt a bit light-headed.

“Yep.” The first voice chirped after a moment. “It’s definitely cursed. You open it.”

“I don’t-” There was a long-suffering sigh, a little over-dramatic but not truly angry.

Virgil swallowed again. His throat was tight, forcing his breath to come out in short, airy puffs.

“Just a reminder though - if I get decapitated I am  _ so _ blaming you.”

Virgil’s vision went white.

The tingling was no longer a tingling - it was an inferno of unnatural heat blazing beneath his skin. He choked back a cry as his arms gave out and he fell back onto his elbows.

The door, the door, the door - they were trying to open the door. The stones underneath Virgil quivered as the pressure increased, and it was all he could to keep his own energy flowing out and into the tower, wrapping around the door and barring it from the intruders.

The pressure let up, and Virgil almost sobbed in relief as the dim room slowly blurred into focus.

“...mean you can’t? It’s a wooden door. And an old one too!”

“I don’t know…”

Virgil had only just started to pull himself together when everything went white once more. The strength wasn’t human, not even close. Virgil had no doubt that without his influence the door would have snapped ten times over by now - as it were he felt awfully close to snapping himself.

They backed off again, and Virgil knew he wouldn’t be able to hold the door if they kept trying. He needed another plan.

Admittedly, Virgil wasn’t a fighter, not anything of the sort, but the hunting knife at his hip was becoming more tempting with each second that ticked by.

Well… it’s not like he had many alternatives.

The voices were chattering again. Far too cheerily, in Virgil’s opinion. They could at least have the decency to act malicious while breaking into his home.

Virgil dragged himself back to the wall, using it to brace himself as he shoved his uncooperative body into a seated position and rested a shaking hand on the hilt of his knife.

“On three?”

Oh gods, they were both trying now - he drew in a deep breath.

“Nah. Now!”

If Virgil had thought the first two times were bad - oh, they were nothing compared to this. He could practically feel the life draining out of him as the tower leeched more and more power, trying to sustain the barrier. He felt like was going to be sick.

He needed… what? He needed something? He needed… 

_ Let go! _ Some part in the back of Virgil’s mind screamed, shaking the rest of him into semi-awareness.  _ Cut off the tower! Let go! _

His head was swimming, but Virgil gritted his teeth and, with a pointed mental command, he cut the strings and let the defenses fall like the unmanned puppet they had become.

He might have blacked out for a second, Virgil wasn’t sure, but when he opened his eyes the door was reduced to sharp splinters strewn across the flagstones. 

The voices were still in the hallway for some reason.

“...worry too much about. Why don’t you go in?”

“Me? Why me? I touched the door first!”

Virgil somehow made it to his feet, dragging himself up with the wall as support. He had to move now. Attack and then run while he still had the element of surprise.

His hand felt strangely distant around the knife, almost a separate entity. 

How was he going to do this? It was pitch black in the rest of the tower, and the odds of Virgil making it all the way down and outside without falling a minimum of twice weren’t good. And if he made it out, what then?

The tower held all his supplies, both generic and magical, and if he was forced to leave he would be practically helpless.

_ We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. _ He decided, tightening his shakey grip on his weapon.  _ For now just get out of here _ .

Powered solely by adrenaline Virgil spun into the doorway, catching the nearest of the shadowy figures in the gut with his knife as they turned to face him.

_ No time no time no time _ .

Virgil left the weapon embedded in the intruder’s stomach and bolted down the hall, hoping against hope he could accurately guess when the drop of the stairs began.

Naturally he was off, if only by a few feet, but it still ruined everything. He’d estimated one more step before the first stair, and sucked in a cry when his foot found only empty air where the floor should have been.

He didn’t get the chance to fall, though - a rough hand snatched a fistful of his cloak just behind his neck and yanked him completely off the ground with inhuman ease.

Virgil opened his mouth to scream but in the next second he was slammed face-first into the wall and his breath was gone. The hand stayed at the base of his neck, shoving him into the stones and making retrieving his breath nearly impossible.

He was distantly aware that the intruders were once again bickering over something, light-hearted as ever as they absently choked the life out of him.

They seemed to have forgotten him even after only a few seconds, and Virgil knew he had to do something,  _ anything _ , because if the pressure didn’t let up soon he would… would… no, he couldn’t think about that. It was hard enough to breathe as things were.

The stones were cold against his cheek, the icy sensation beginning to seep through the front of his tunic as well. The stones, the stones, the stones - the tower!

Virgil closed his eyes (it was no use keeping them open anyway, as he was locked in complete darkness) and desperately reached out, trying to reconnect with the tower. There was a spark of energy - small, but enough to kick back at his captor in the hopes of regaining their attention.

The voices stopped. Virgil flinched at a clatter of metal and the following heavy footsteps towards him, eyes flashing instinctively open when his hood was suddenly ripped off.

And the voices were back, closer this time. A lot closer.

“...drink from humans?”

Drink? Oh gods, was he a food source? How the hell was he going to get out of this?

He suddenly got the sensation that something was right in front of his face. That something was looking at him.  _ Right _ at him.

“No, Ree.” The lower of the voices huffed, so closely that Virgil could feel the breath of the words on his skin. “I’m not.”

There was a sound that might have been a laugh from the other - the one holding him, it seemed - but it was a bit too twisted. “Eh, more for me!”

Virgil was feeling fainter by the second.

He was going to die, wasn’t he? He was going to die right here outside of his room and eaten by some monster, all because he had been too careless to properly secure the crystal before trying to move its stand…

Arguing. The voices were arguing yet again. 

The next thing Virgil knew he was in midair again, barely sucking in a desperate breath before he was slammed back against the wall, this time facing out. The hand previously fisted in his cloak was now splayed over his chest, only further accentuating the pure strength of the  _ whatever this was _ .

Virgil blinked fiercely despite that he still couldn’t see a thing, ears ringing and chest pounding as the need for proper air quickly regrew towards critical.

His limbs still felt detached but he managed to raise his hands to grasp at the arm holding him aloft. It was a weak resistance, probably pointless, but it felt better than doing  _ nothing _ .

One of his hands was pulled down, icy fingers wrapping around his wrist firmly but unreasonably gently.

The arm holding him jerked, lightly thrashing Virgil’s near-limp form momentarily. “Are you gonna say anything?” The higher voice demanded, inches from his face. “You still haven’t told me why you’re all glittery with earth magic!”

E...earth magic? What? What did his magic have to do with anything? Still, they were trying to converse with him. If he could talk to them, he could stall them killing him. He just had to, ya know, not get killed before he could talk.

Virgil opened his mouth, trying to say something, say anything, but he could only produce a strangled whine that grated at his own ears. He pulled his other hand back up, the icy fingers easily slipping away and allowing him to grab at the arm once more. They had to let him breathe enough to talk at least, right? …Right?

If Virgil had had the breath he would have sobbed in relief when he felt his feet settle back on the ground, the hand remaining on his chest but no longer crushing his lungs.

The high voice was talking to him again. He needed to answer, give himself time to recover so he could try and run again, but he couldn’t even tell what they were saying.

Oh gods, it was still so hard to breathe. His chest throbbed, and Virgil distantly wondered if he had broken ribs. It occurred to him that his legs were too weak to hold him, the only thing keeping him upright being the hand that still pressed against him. How was he going to get away? He couldn’t run if he couldn’t even stand!

There was a sharp pain right in the center of his forehead and he jerked backwards, head hitting the wall and sending his ears helplessly ringing for the millionth time.

Then the hand was gone, and Virgil’s legs immediately gave out. He didn’t even remember hitting the ground - just a sudden rush of air, and a dazed,  _ well this isn’t good _ , in the back of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... on a scale of rainbows to soggy cardboard what'd'y'all think?


	3. The Princes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was originally supposed to be three chapters but as I was writing it made more sense as four so here we are

Virgil was in pitch blackness and surrounded by an entirely unfamiliar musty smell. He had half the mind to panic, but considering he’d only just regained his ability to breathe, decided it could wait until at least more evidence was presented.

There had been a short flurry of whispers nearby, but they had ceased with a set of footsteps echoing away.

Virgil had no idea who they were or what they wanted, but they were probably going to be back soon - he needed to gather all the information he could before they did. 

He started with patting the ground around him; it was soft, plush almost. A blanket? He felt a little further. A pillow, too. And a rather large one at that. A bed?

Slowly, Virgil pulled himself up to his hands and knees, cautiously feeling in front of himself as he crawled forward. 

Despite his precautions, he still almost fell when he finally found the edge, hand planting into thin air and causing him to choke on a scream as he caught himself.

“Careful there,” A voice said - almost directly in front of him. “You don’t want to fall.”

Virgil did scream then.

He vaguely registered that his limbs had stopped listening to him, slipping out from underneath him in a mad desperation to flee and sending him head-first right over the edge of the bed.

“Whoa!” A pair of strong arms was suddenly under his own, catching him in midair and suspending him with only his knees-down still on the mattress. “Careful! I may not know much but I’m pretty sure hitting their heads on solid stone isn’t good for humans!”

_ Humans _ .

As in, whoever this was  _ wasn’t _ human.

Virgil’s already useless vision went white. He may or may not have been hyperventilating, he wasn’t sure.

Suddenly there was light. Small and flickering, but light! Virgil blinked furiously, determined to knock enough sense into his body to take in the world around.

A candle. A face. Green eyes that glittered a little too brightly to be normal. 

The arms around him shifted to settle him back on the bed, and as soon as Virgil registered this he pulled away, turning and pressing his back against the headboard once more to at least give himself some illusion of safety.

There were two men standing by the bed. They looked so alike that at first Virgil assumed it was a doppelganger, but their eyes were different colours, and one had a mustache, which was enough to throw that theory out the window.

The green-eyed one was holding a candle - no holder, grasping it as if it were a torch, not seeming to have noticed the wax that had dripped and was drying onto his overly pale skin. Whether or not his clothes had started out black, they were entirely soaked with blood and would be lucky to achieve even a muddy grey at this point.

The other one had glistening red eyes that screamed danger in their own right, but overall still looked more human than the other. It was something about the way he held himself; cool confidence with a touch of concern in the way he leaned slightly forward. Or maybe it was just that he wasn’t the one drenched in blood. No, scratch that, it was definitely the blood.

They stared at him for a long time, not speaking. Virgil stared back. Also not speaking.

Finally, after what had to have been a minimum of ten minutes, the red-eyed one cleared his throat, if a little awkwardly.

“Um, hello?”

Virgil didn’t know how to respond. Or, he thought he didn’t. Apparently his mouth had other ideas, almost immediately blurting out, “What do you want from me?”

The men exchanged glances. When they made eye contact their eyes flickered, switching colours momentarily, and Virgil did not like it one bit.

“... _ Well _ ,” The green-eyed one drawled, clicking his - too sharp, Virgil noticed - teeth. “ _ I _ wanted to just kill you and drink your veins dry, but RoRo here saw that you were all glow-y and found it interesting. Personally I think that’s just an excuse to keep you around, considering Ro’s a sucker for a melodramatic fairy tale and just can’t resist a magically enhanced narrative.”

“Hey!” The red-eyed one complained, looking genuinely offended. He shook himself, blinking resolutely to regain composure and then looking to Virgil. “I apologize for my brother. He has a tendency to be  _ abominably _ forthright at times.”

“Only sometimes? Damn, I need to try harder then.”

“Remus, please.”

“Sorry. I mean, not really. But I will shut up… for now.”

Virgil just looked at them. Their presence radiated danger, but they were simply not living up to the part. Those glowing eyes and sharp teeth warned of vicious bloodthirst, but the way the green-eyed one was hopping from foot to foot like an energetic puppy, the way the red-eyed one folded his arms with a dramatic huff and pointedly looked the other direction, at best warned of nothing more than light-hearted squabbling and underlying weariness.

The brothers were aggressively ignoring each other now in some reverse staring contest.

Virgil swallowed awkwardly, pulling his cloak tighter about his shoulders.

Both heads snapped back to him. 

“I…” Virgil swallowed again, finding his throat unnaturally dry when he tried to speak. “...Wh-where am I?”

The red-eyed brother happily took the offer to speak, straightening and flashing a dazzling, if a little unsettling, smile. “Ah, forgive me. You are in our castle. Specifically, in my chambers. I would have put you in your own room, but uh… it only recently occurred to me that we haven’t exactly maintained the rest of the rooms as well as we probably should have.”

“He means everything else was eaten by moths.” Remus chirped cheerfully.

“Remus, I swear to our father I will run you through if you don’t keep your mouth closed.”

“Geez, so temperamental. Fine, fine, whatever. You chat with your human, I’m gonna go dismember some civilians.”

Virgil felt his mouth fall open slightly, but he quickly snapped it back shut. “I- what?”

“What?” Remus purposefully tilted the candle to shake a few globs of hot wax onto the top of the bedpost. He then promptly flipped the candle upright again and slammed it down onto the puddle and let go, leaving the candle to hold itself upright with its own misshapen matter.

“Remus, haven’t you terrorized enough villages for today?”

“Well no one  _ else _ is gonna do it, are they Roman?” The comment was sharp as Remus sauntered away, almost accusatory, though accusing of what Virgil wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

The red-eyed brother - Roman, apparently - rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion. “Just get out already. You’re scaring him.”

Him? Who was him? It took Virgil a bit longer than it should have to reason that he was the ‘him’, and once realizing this wasn’t sure how to feel about the exchange.

They didn’t want to scare him? Why? Were they trying to make him trust them? What - so they could kill him later and see the betrayed horror in his eyes. It seemed like the sick sort of thing beasts of legends liked to do, but then again Virgil hadn't personally met many people, human or otherwise.

They seemed pretty laid back, but the dismembering citizens remark appeared to have been a literal statement, if the bloodied morningstar Remus twirled as he left the room was to be accounted for.

Remus had been gone a solid three minutes before Roman cleared his throat. 

“I… I apologize, again, for him.”

Virgil managed a little nod, drawing his legs closer to his body.

“I… I am Roman, if you hadn't gathered.” Roman continued slowly, looking as though he was properly realizing the awkwardness of the situation without Remus there to bicker with. “Prince Roman. And that was Prince Remus, my twin. He is… uncouth, true, but I promise he will not hurt you.”

The candle perched on the bedpost only lit about half the room, but from what Virgil could see it did appear he was in some sort of bedchamber. The blankets were faded but soft, and even in age quite immaculate, once-bright red embroidered with gentle gold. “...Prince?” He asked quietly. “Prince of where?”

This made Roman frown. “Uh… technically the kingdom isn’t exactly… uh, in existence anymore. But I believe the surrounding villages call this castle the Ashen Hollow.”

The name pricked no memories, but the implications of such a name weren’t favourable in their own right. Virgil settled for a slow nod, hoping he looked more together than he was. “May I ask… why I’m here?”

Roman opened his mouth, then closed it. He furrowed his brow, opened and closed his mouth once, then twice more before finally speaking. “I suppose you intrigued me. There aren’t exactly many humans with innate magic, and what you have is rather powerful for, well, a human.”

Despite the fear, Virgil somehow found the emotional energy to be insulted. He made a face. “And what are you, to judge whether my magic is sufficient or not?”

Roman paused. He licked his lips, as though deciding whether or not he wanted to answer. “I am a vampire.” He said finally.

Virgil stiffened.

Vampires were scarce, to his knowledge, but were nonetheless among the most dangerous of the undead. They supposedly were invincible short of following a very particular and intricate banishing ritual, faster than a diving falcon and stronger than half a dozen war horses and weilding a bite of instantly paralyzing venom. The exact extents of their magical abilities were unknown, but it was widely theorized that they specialized in some form of emotional draw, perhaps similar to the sirens’ hypnotizing charm.

This was certain though: vampires were a force to be reckoned with, and were  _ not _ to be taken lightly.

Roman apparently didn’t like Virgil’s change in expression. “You have nothing to fear, I swear!” He said quickly, holding up his hands to seem less threatening - ha, as if he’d even need a weapon to have Virgil dead five times over in just the next ten seconds.

Virgil opened his mouth to respond, with what he wasn’t sure, but he was interrupted by a sudden  _ CRASH! _ and a green and black blur skidding into the doorway.

Roman was immediately standing. “What the hell Remus? It’s been like five minutes!”

Remus held up a finger, steadying himself on the doorframe with the other hand. “Sorry, sorry, just - well, I decided I was gonna go fuck around in the dark and mysterious tower, because, why not, and said dark an mysterious tower kinda… isn’t there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's late. I spent way too long on this if just because I spent ten minutes staring at the screen because I'd forgotten the word "dangerous" - I guess that's just a testament to my brain power levels at present lol


	4. What Happens Next (We Have No Idea)

All appreciation for the completely valid fear clouding him went up in smoke, and the next thing Virgil knew he was on his feet. “ _ What?! _ ”

Roman’s much softer “What do you mean, it’s not there?” was drowned away, nearly cut off at the end as the vampire jumped in surprise at Virgil’s outburst.

“Oh!” Remus blinked, grinning a bit lopsidedly. “He does have a personality!”

Some mad force had taken control of Virgil’s mind, having him marching right up to Remus even as the back of his mind asked what the bloody hell he thought he was doing. “What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?! What did you do to it?”

“I did nothing,” Remus blinked harder, scowling down into Virgil’s suddenly bright eyes. “But damn, Ro, what did you  _ do _ to this guy? He’s feisty all of a sudden!”

“I didn’t-”

“I mean, I’m not complaining, it’s kind of cute, but like,  _ damn _ that’s a one-eighty!”

Virgil took another step, standing nearly chest to chest with Remus, still staring him dead in the eye - still having no idea what the hell he was doing, but knowing that by the gods he was going to do it, whatever it was. “What. Did. You.  _ Do? _ ”

“Forget the tower!” Remus snorted. “I think I actually like this human! Fuckin’ hell, Ro, look at this! No fear! The sheer stupidity alone is intoxicating!”

All things considered, Virgil should probably agree with the green-eyed vampire; really, the stupidity of this sudden adrenaline and its consequential actions might as well have gotten him killed already.

This train of thought, however, didn’t even gain him a moment of hesitation before he snatched a handful of Remus’s shirtfront - the half-dried blood only partially registered - and drawing himself up to be nose to nose with the vampire. “Hey! Tell me what you did!”

“Well then.” Remus looked Virgil up and down, at least best he could from their position. “Although usually I am in fact to blame for the local atrocities, this time I legitimately have no idea what happened. And, as cute as you are, you aren’t really my type. Roman’s the hopeless romantic - why don’t you go threaten him instead?”

“Hey!” Roman protested.

With nothing else to do, Virgil reached out with his magic, trying to feel out the tower’s presence. Nothing. The world around was cold and empty without it there, and it had been so long since he’d felt this void so strongly… 

Virgil suddenly felt very tired. Remus’ face blurred in front of him, and he let go of the man’s shirt, stumbling back.

“Uh… I may not know a lot but I’m pretty sure the average human doesn’t glow.”

“Shut up, Remus.”

Virgil stumbled again, and found a hand at his elbow, guiding him back towards the bed. 

It was hard to see, but looking down at himself Virgil was surprised to find Remus was right - he was glowing. Soft violet clinging to his bare skin like frost. It tickled a little, now that he thought about it.

Roman was gently nudging him back onto the bed, and Virgil frowned, pushing to stand.

“N...no, I need to… I need to…” What did he need to do again? The tower, the tower, the tower - the tower! “I need to find the… the tower… it can’t just…”

“We can look for the tower later.” Roman said, and for some reason Virgil believed him.

There was something about the vampire’s voice, a feathery hum laced with something warm and sweet that if Virgil had been thinking more clearly he would have recognized as some kind of spell.

“I promise.” Roman added, not that he really needed to. “Just  _ sleep _ .”

The sense of safety was undoubtedly fabricated, but Virgil couldn’t find it in himself to fight against it. He hadn't been killed yet, after all. Yeah, he could look for the tower later.

He could trust Roman, right? Soft and gentle and warm and suddenly the most trustworthy thing he’d ever encountered. Yes, he could trust Roman. Things would be just fine.

\-------

The human curled onto his side with a low hum, his fingers loosely grasping at Roman’s sleeve and eyes falling closed with a soft puff of breath.

“Well,” Remus remarked. “Leave it to you to enchant the pretty human at the first opportunity.”

Roman scowled at his twin, but remained seated on the edge of the bed to avoid having to remove himself from the human’s hold. “He was going to panic again. You saw him, Re - he started using his magic again. Probably trying to find the tower. He obviously can’t handle it.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Prince Charming.” Remus waved dismissively. “I may not give much of a shit about your new friend, but I  _ am _ very interested in this magic tower, so I’m gonna go look around the creek and see what dark secrets I can unearth.”

Roman made a face. “We should go together.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Probably. But I’m pretty sure you’re too soft to move when that mortal’s wrapped around a cat. Of course, I could be wrong…”

The human was, in fact, curled unconsciously around the red-eyed prince, seeking out the source of the calming enchantment in his sleep.

Roman glared at his brother.

“That’s what I thought.” Remus grinned. “So, you boys have fun cuddling, I’ll go poke at potentially evil magics and see what I can see, sound good?”

“I-”

“Awesome!” Remus clapped. “I’ll be off then!”

“Remus-”

The bloodstained green and black blur was gone.

Roman sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically even if there was no one to see it. He looked down to the sleeping human, pale and still buzzing with a faint violet aura that reflected Roman’s own magical calm back at him.

As annoying as Remus was, he wasn’t  _ wrong _ \- the guy was unfairly pretty.

“No, nope, bad Roman.” He shook himself, blinking to clear his head.

Well, it would be nice to have someone besides Remus to talk to for a change, even if it was only until the mystery of the appearing and disappearing magic tower was solved.

And if the warmth of a living body wrapped around him was unfamiliar in a way that made Roman’s chest flutter with a heart he didn’t even really have… well, that was something he could address at a later date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooooooo I have no idea what I'm even doing with my life because I'm supposed to be doing work rn but well here we are. What's the verdict kids?

**Author's Note:**

> Any thoughts kiddos?


End file.
